Scripture: Proverbs 25:2
It is the glory of God to hide something and the glory of kings to discover something.
Thought for the Day: Almost 25 years ago, I took a summer class on the writings of ethicist and theologian, Reinhold Niebuhr. So much of what he wrote made me feel uncomfortable in that good kind of discomfort. Where I had been a bit naive, Niebuhr called me to examine the structures of evil in this world that could not be dismissed with just a little more goodness. One of Niebuhr’s lines that has continued to delight my imagination is the following: “The wisdom of life requires not the annulment of incongruity but the achievement of serenity within and above it.” When faith or life or ethics or social systems are looked at separately, there can be very simple answers. When each of these areas of study begins to intersect, playing on one another or battling one another, the simple answers are no longer found. I don’t know if God actually hides such things in the glow of divine glory or if that is just the poet’s way of describing the mystery and complexity of faithful living in a dynamic and ever-changing world. Whatever the case, it is our task to join the kings in the work of discerning discovery. There will still be complexity and unanswered questions, but often the struggle to articulate the question being asked by the mystery itself is the grounding from which everything else will grow.
Prayer: Continue to beguile and seduce my imagination, O Divine Mystery. Encourage my questions and exploration even when answers are no where to be found. Allow for there to be joy in community dialogue and the many moments in which your Spirit leaves us in awe. Amen.
MEN – DON’T FORGET
Tonight at Cramer Retreat Center
Dinner – 6:30pm
Study – 7:00pm
